NEW BEDFORD — An international animal-rights organization has named Buttonwood Park Zoo to its top-10 list of "worst zoos for elephants" for the third time.

CHARIS ANDERSON

NEW BEDFORD — An international animal-rights organization has named Buttonwood Park Zoo to its top-10 list of "worst zoos for elephants" for the third time.

In Defense of Animals, a California-based nonprofit, put the city's zoo in the fifth spot on its annual list of the "Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants," released Tuesday.

"Scientific research shows what elephants need in order to thrive: space to walk miles every day, family social structures and a rich natural environment," said Nicole Meyer, director of IDA's Elephant Protection Campaign, in a statement.

"Elephant welfare continues to take a back seat in zoos, where hundreds of elephants are deprived of their most basic needs and condemned to a lifetime of deprivation, disease and early death."

IDA's list criticized the city's zoo for keeping its elephants, Emily and Ruth, indoors during the winter months, and claimed sharing a space that was too small for them resulted in aggression between the elephants.